American Society for Engineering Education
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (October 2012) |
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| File:American Society of Engineering Education logo.jpg | |
| Founded | 1893 |
|---|---|
| Type | Professional Organization |
| Focus | Engineering education |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Method | Industry standards, Conferences, Publications |
Key people | Kenneth F. Galloway, President Walter W. Buchanan, Immediate Past President |
| Website | www |
The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a non-profit member association, founded in 1893, dedicated to promoting and improving engineering and engineering technology education. The purpose of ASEE is the advancement of education in all of its functions which pertain to engineering and allied branches of science and technology, including the processes of teaching and learning, counseling, research, extension services and public relations.
ASEE members include more than 13,000 deans, professors, instructors, students and industry representatives.[citation needed]
History
A full reading of the history of ASEE can be found in a 1993 centennial article in the Journal of Engineering Education.[1]
Founded initially as the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education (SPEE) in 1893, the society was created at a time of great growth in American higher education. In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which provided money for states to establish public institutions of higher education. These institutions focused on providing practical skills, especially "for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts". As a result of increasingly available higher education, more Americans started entering the workforce with advanced training in applied fields of knowledge. However, they often lacked grounding in the science and engineering principles underlying this practical knowledge.
After a generation of students had passed through these new public universities, professors of engineering began to question whether they should adopt a more rigorous approach to teaching the fundamentals of their field. Ultimately, they concluded that engineering curricula should stress fundamental scientific and mathematical principles, not hands-on apprenticeship experiences. To organize support for this approach to engineering education, SPEE was formed in the midst of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Known as the World's Columbian Exposition, this event heralded the promise of science and engineering by introducing many Americans, for example, to the wonders of electricity. Emerging out of the Fair’s World Engineering Congress, SPEE members dedicated themselves to improving engineering education at the classroom level. Over its history, the society has put out several reports on the subject, such as the Mann Report (1907), the Wickenden Study (1920s), and the Grinter Report (1955).[citation needed]
During World War II, the federal government started to place more emphasis on research, prompting SPEE to form the Engineering College Research Association (ECRA), which was more concerned with research than SPEE had ever been. The ECRA spoke for most engineering researchers, sought federal funds, and collected and published information on academic engineering research. After the war, the desire to integrate the less research-oriented SPEE with the ECRA resulted in the disbanding of SPEE and the formation of ASEE in 1946.[citation needed]
ASEE was a volunteer-run organization through the 1950s. In 1961, ASEE established a staff headquarters in Washington, DC, and undertook a more activist posture. However, through the 1960s, the Vietnam War and social unrest in general made the mood on many campuses anti-technology, anti-business, and anti-establishment. In the 1960s and 1970s, ASEE presidents Merritt Williams and George Hawkins reorganized ASEE to better represent its members and return its focus to teaching. As a result of this new focus, ASEE began to administer several teaching-related government contracts, including NASA’s summer faculty fellowships and the Defense Department’s Civil Defense Summer Institutes and Fellowships. Currently, ASEE administers over ten government contracts, including the prestigious National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program.[citation needed]
Another result of the renewed emphasis on teaching was ASEE’s initiative for recruiting minorities and women into engineering. ASEE created the Black Engineering College Development program which used industry funding to upgrade engineering faculty in traditionally black colleges and to develop public information on these schools. ASEE also received several grants in the 1970s to research the status of women and American Indians and develop programs to attract more of these students to enter engineering. Since then, ASEE has continued to release studies on the subject in its Journal of Engineering Education, and has created divisions specifically devoted to developing programs and research in this area.[2]
Publications
ASEE produces many publications on the topic of engineering education, including the general-interest Prism, a monthly magazine covering the pervasive role of engineering in the world, the Journal of Engineering Education, a peer-reviewed journal covering research in engineering education, Profiles of Engineering and Technology Colleges, prociding data on engineering colleges and universities, and the eGFI: Engineering, Go For It! magazine and associated website, designed to attract high school students and their parents and teachers to engineering.[3]
Prism magazine
The magazine is read by key decision makers within engineering education and reaches engineering faculty members, administrators, and students in all disciplines of engineering. Over the years the magazine has won numerous APEX, EdPress, ASAE Gold Circle and PRINT magazine awards for both content and graphic design. Engineering is the force behind much of the new technology that is driving the U.S. economy. Prism is committed to reporting the latest information about cutting-edge technology and other important trends in engineering education, including:
- New instructional methods
- Innovative curricula
- Lifelong learning
- Research opportunities, trends, and developments
- Education and research projects with government and industry
K-12 outreach activities that encourage youth to pursue studies and careers in engineering.More than 12,000, including: 10,000 engineering faculty, over 400 engineering deans, and 400 corporate executives. Prism is also sent to students, members of congress, other government advisors, and science and engineering writers and publishers. Subscription is covered in ASEE membership dues. Beginning on January 1, 2013 non-members pay $225 per year in the United States and Canada; $275 in all other countries. Libraries pay $225 in the United States and Canada; $275 in all other countries.
Journal of Engineering Education (JEE)
The Journal of Engineering Education is a peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by ASEE in partnership with a global community of engineering education societies and associations. JEE is the journal of choice for over 8,500 subscribers in nearly 80 countries. JEE is listed in the Science Citation Index, and the Social Sciences Citation Index by Thomson-Reuters and the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and the tables of contents are reproduced in ISI’s Current Contents/Engineering, Computing and Technology and Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences. JEE is also listed in the EBSCOhost research databases (Education Research Complete™ and Academic Search Complete™) and the Elsevier bibliographic research database, Scopus. JEE is a founding member of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, and the journal is rated A* by the Australian Research Council.
Engineering, Go For It (eGFI)
eGFI is sponsored by ASEE with the goal of promoting and enhancing efforts to improve K-12 STEM and engineering education. Currently, the eGFI magazine is published bi-annually, and the fifth edition arrived in October of 2011. According to that schedule, the 6th edition is scheduled to be published in 2013. eGFI features a an blog for students and a store featuring materials for K-12 teachers.
Presidents since 2000
- 2000-2001 - Wallace T. Fowler[4]
- 2001-2002 - Gerald S. Jakubowski
- 2002-2003 - Eugene M. DeLoatch
- 2003-2004 - Duane L. Abata
- 2004-2005 - Sherra E. Kerns
- 2005-2006 - Ronald Barr
- 2006-2007 - David Wormley
- 2007-2008 - Jim Melsa
- 2008-2009 - Sarah Rajala
- 2009-2010 - J.P. Moshen
- 2010-2011 - Renata Engel
- 2011-2012 - Don Giddens
- 2012-2013 - Walter Buchanan
- 2013-2014 - Kenneth Galloway
Awards
ASEE annually recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of engineering and engineering technology educators through the ASEE awards program. By their commitment to their profession, desire to further the Society's mission, and participation in civic and community affairs, ASEE award winners exemplify the best in engineering and engineering technology education.[5]
Conferences
ASEE and its members organize a number of conferences, meetings, and workshops. The ASEE Annual Conference hosts over 3,000 participants, dedicated to exploring and improving engineering and engineering technology education. Other events include regional member meetings, professional-interest focused conferences, and K-12 teacher training.[6] The ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition is the only conference dedicated to all disciplines of engineering education. It is committed to fostering the exchange of ideas, enhancing teaching methods and curriculum, and providing prime networking opportunities for engineering and technology education stakeholders such as deans, faculty members and industry and government representatives.
2013 ASEE Annual Conference - Atlanta, GA
The ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition hosted over 400 technical sessions, with peer-reviewed papers spanning all disciplines of engineering education. Attendees included deans, faculty and researchers, students, and retirees. Distinguished lectures ran on Wednesday, and there were two Main Plenaries, which can be viewed on ASEE's YouTube page. In addition to various award receptions and banquets, ASEE also featured a complimentary "Meet the Board Forum," providing the opportunity for all registrants to meet with members of the ASEE Board of Directors and discuss current issues in engineering and technology. Highlights included the "Greet the Stars" orientation for new ASEE members and first-time conference attendees, the ASEE Division Mixer, and the "Focus on Exhibits" Welcome Reception, Brunch, Ice Cream Social and Closing Lunch. The 2013 conference was in Atlanta, Georgia from June 23-26 at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) and the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.
Fellowships
ASEE administers a number of fellowship and research opportunities with funding provided by the Federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These range from programs that provide summer internships for high school students to research programs for faculty members during the summer or while on sabbatical. Programs include undergraduate and graduate research support and postdoctoral research programs for recent PhDs at government and industrial research facilities. ASEE provides support tasks that include outreach and promotion activities, application processing support, application review activities, and administration of stipend and tuition payments for program participants.
Headquarters
ASEE headquarters is located in Washington, DC at 1818 N Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036.